Tech Laptop Freezes on Startup? (Read 539 times)

WunderBread

#1 December 23, 2008, 03:37:06 am
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Hey, GW. Long time no see. Anywho, my sister has a Dell Inspiron 1505 running Windows XP Media Edition, and today she managed to get the Trojan DNS Changer. As I was looking for a way to transfer a virus scanner to her laptop (she has a bad one, and neither of us have USB drives), her laptop gave a single beep and froze up. Now her computer will start up and go to her desktop, but attempting to click on anything will make the computer beep once again before it freezes (and then you have to turn it off manually). It freezes in Safe Mode, too.

So I think to myself: "Self, if you can't do anything with it, why don't you ask the infinitely smarter collective mind of GW?" Has anybody else had this problem before? If so, what did you do to remedy it? And if the laptop doesn't work anymore, is it possible to salvage the files anyway? I figure it might be, because the computer does display the desktop and its items before it freezes, but I wouldn't know how to go about getting things from a computer that you can't use.
Last Edit: December 23, 2008, 04:05:52 am by WunderBread
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Grunthor

#2 December 23, 2008, 04:14:37 am
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I'm not exactly sure that the Trojan DNS changer is the problem here.  It typically just fucks with your TCP/IP settings (Ad Aware should easily be able to remove it).  Try booting up the computer in safe mode and see if the problem still persists.

If not, then I'd bet there's a program or file that's trying to launch at startup that's screwing with your system.  Launch MSConfig in safe mode by clicking start, then click run and type MSConfig in the box that pops up.  You should get a box that pops up with multiple tabs.  Click the startup tab and try disabling everything in the list, then reboot in normal mode. 





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WunderBread

#3 December 23, 2008, 03:53:50 pm
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Hey, thanks! It kept freezing in Safe Mode so I had to open it in Safe Mode with Command Prompt. Now we're just trying to back up her stuff in case this happens again (we're both at home, and left our external hard drives at school). At least this is an excuse to get a new computer for her. ;D

Thanks again!
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goat

#4 December 26, 2008, 09:49:19 pm
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If you could install an OS on one of the external drives, or boot from a CD/thumb drive based OS like some versions of linux, you could scan+backup from there. Some laptops have a extra partition for backup/restoration purpouses, so you may want to check your user manual or call tech support for more information on how to use that.

I doubt the system is a lost cause, it's probably just an OS reinstall from becoming operational again.
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VinceP

#5 December 28, 2008, 06:42:01 pm
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goat makes a good point. I ALWAYS keep a Linux distro on a CD, and I keep my BIOS set to boot from the CD drive. Puppy Linux has saved my ass on more than one occasion.
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